The increased availability of network-capable computing devices has led to a wide variety of communication options for users. Users can exchange messages and content through various communication systems including e-mail, instant messaging, chat rooms, bulletin and discussion boards, file sharing applications, and file sharing sites. Recently, commercial and non-commercial web sites and other services have emerged for distribution of content items, such as digital media files including photos, music, and movies. Some commercial sites, such as the APPLE ITUNES service, have found success selling music on a pay-per-track or pay-per-album basis wherein access to music (and other media) is provided for a fixed price.
However, the commercial success of other sites and services has been mixed. Although video sharing sites may be popular for users who wish to exchange content, many of such sites presently rely on advertising revenue rather than charging users or submitters of videos. For instance, such sites may derive limited revenue from advertisements (such as banner and text ads) presented alongside the video. Other approaches include appending or pre-pending an ad to a video clip (or other content item) with the goal of forcing users to view the ad. However, these approaches may not generate sufficient revenue to cover costs of bandwidth and storage space. Furthermore, although some sites and services may share revenues with content producers, the net revenue left for sharing may be minimal or nonexistent.